“You hope. Careful, girl. Keep it up and that funny walk will become permanent.” Mel cleared her throat. “Not sure I intended that entendre, but . . .”
Alanna rolled her eyes, bumped shoulders with her again. “I’ll do the dishes.”
Mel gave her a fond look, a stroke to her hair. Then she surprised Alanna by giving her a swift, fierce hug. “I’m glad Niall fell in love again, before the end.”
The woman strode away without looking back, probably knowing the tears her words would evoke. Yesterday, Alanna had played tag with the children. When a little girl tackled her, Alanna wrapped her arms around her and took them both to the ground, holding her gently as the child giggled. The child was picking grass out of her long hair, and she was doing the same to her silken curls. Looking up, she’d seen Niall staring at her the way Evan did a subject for his painting. As if he was seeing something remarkable, something that kept him in that one spot, enjoying it as long as it wanted to be before him.
Forgive me, Master . . . but I really want to come and see him.
That’s fine, Alanna. I haven’t been able to sleep anyway. It would help, if you came and stayed with him.
It was rare that she picked up emotion in Evan’s mind-voice so clearly. It made her hurry to their bungalow. Once inside, she headed for the cellar. All three of them had been sleeping below these past few nights, the intensity of their couplings such that Evan had kept them both there in the aftermath, until daylight and his servants’ responsibilities above called them away.
It was dark downstairs, though Evan had a lantern on a low setting as a night-light. The vampire was propped on an elbow, stroking Niall’s hair off his forehead as he slept, just as heavily as when she’d left hours before. She could tell Evan was fighting sleep hard himself, for the sun was well past when his body would force him to unconsciousness. She chastised herself for spending so much time with Mel and not anticipating this need. Evan shook his head, hearing it. As she shed her shorts and overshirt, she crawled over the mattress in her panties and thin tank to the both of them.
She’d decided this cottage was used for the founder when he came, because it had more of a finished basement than a cellar, with painted walls, a king-sized bed, electric hookups and a full bath with a shower comfortable for a man—and his servant—to use. There was even a sitting area with a spacious desk where Evan could consider slides or handle paperwork Alanna brought to him.
Now she curled up on the other side of Niall. Panic seized her. He was cool, not emanating heat as he usually did. Her gaze snapped up to Evan, but he was already in her mind, reassuring her.
He’s fine. I’ve heard other vampires call it death practice, the deep sleeps, the coolness of the body. His system is preparing . . .
No. No. She’d just found him, just found them both. But with Evan within touching distance, she couldn’t put her own feelings first, no matter how strong they were. Niall had been his for so much longer.
It took me only an instant to know he was mine. Perhaps it’s the same for all of us, Alanna. Time may deepen it, enrich it, teach us so many lessons, but that first moment, that spark—that’s what sets the fire burning forever.
She laid her hand over his, resting on Niall’s chest. The vampire nodded, acknowledging the touch, but didn’t take his eyes off his sleeping servant.
“Is he dreaming?”
“Yes. A dog . . . a collie. It belonged to him as a boy. You . . .” A faint smile touched his mouth. “He’s holding you in his sleep.”
She was lying on Niall’s outstretched arm, and now she reached behind her, drawing his hand to her hip. The arm muscles constricted, bringing her closer. Without prompting, she laid her head down on Niall’s broad shoulder. “You can sleep, Master,” she whispered. “I’ll listen to his heartbeat.”
The anguish that crossed Evan’s face was so strong and immediate she didn’t have to think. Reaching out, she cupped his jaw, caressed him. When he lifted those tormented gray eyes to her, she let her fingers slide to his nape, tangling in the silken strands there. With gentle pressure, she helped him do what he wanted to do. She adjusted so Evan laid his head directly on Niall’s chest, over his heart. The moment he rested it there, she could see the involuntary sleep that would pull him under starting to do so, but she eased his frustration with it, stroking his hair away from his brow, saying soft, unintelligible things. She held both of them, hoping to give them the strength they needed. Niall, to live as long as possible, and Evan, to let him go when the time came.As for her, she’d found her strength. It was in the love she wasn’t afraid of acknowledging anymore, for them both. She would take care of them however she could, as long as she could.
When Niall’s other arm came up, sliding over Evan’s back, hand coming to rest on his side so he was holding her Master as well as her, she pressed her face harder against his firm flesh and let her silent tears give heat to its coolness.
22
THEY’D had lasagna and salad for dinner tonight, but the dishes were manageable. She wouldn’t be able to tease Mel about leaving her too much responsibility. Not that she would anyway. As she washed, Alanna watched the sanctuary members playing volleyball by the lake, a family canoeing out against the night sky, a full moon shining on the water. Mel, Frank, Miah and Nerida were by the communal bonfire. The purpose of the nightly ritual was to share stories, everyone encouraged to contribute a positive anecdote, whether it was the birth of a baby, a school accomplishment, the witnessing of a lovely sunset. Or the moment a woman decided to take control of her life and stop allowing another to harm her or her children. Though she couldn’t hear the stories over the splash of the water and clank of the dishes, she enjoyed seeing the looks on the participants’ faces, their reactions.
When arms slipped around her waist, she smiled, pleased by Niall’s mouth on her throat. He’d gotten up around late afternoon. True to her word, she hadn’t slept, but she pretended she’d been napping, invited to come back by Evan because her sparring match with Mel had tired her out. She wasn’t sure he’d believed her, but he’d gotten dressed, said he was overdue to help Frank with that plumbing job. He’d left her with a warm kiss that made her try to pull him back into the bed. He evaded her with a chuckle, then bent to Evan, brushing his lips over the oblivious male, still deep in sleep. “You worry too much, vampire,” he murmured. Then he’d straightened, given Alanna a fond look and left her.
Now he was back, freshly showered, suggesting the plumbing job had been messy. “Do you need help drying, muirnín? The sooner you’re done, the sooner I can take you out and have my way with ye under the stars. Finish what you tried tae start, you shameless hussy.”
She poked him with her elbow. “Yes, you can help. If you can keep from breaking the dishes with those big hands of yours.”
He pinched her, but picked up a towel. For a few minutes, they worked in companionable silence, and then he laid his hand on hers, stopping her. Alanna glanced up at him, saw he seemed to be contemplating something, his mouth serious. Then he glanced at her. “I need tae tell you some things, lass. I know you think that your time is limited, but nothing is sure in this life. And I know you want to stay with Evan. If the stars align and that happens . . . ye need to know things about him. Like his annual kill.” He gave her a poignant, wry smile, even as his eyes stayed serious, sad. “His annual kill’s always a Jew who strictly follows kashrut. Sounds twisted, but ’tis as close to kosher as he can get. He has an odd way of honoring his past, his faith, even as he’s had to move away from it, ye ken?”
“No.” She pulled her hand away from his. “I won’t talk about this. You’re not going to—”
“Aye, I am,” he said, catching her chin. “And we both know it’s going to be sooner than later. You want to serve him, right?”
He had her on that one. She put her hand over his, clung to it tightly. Nodded.
“All right, then. We dinnae have to talk about it this moment, but I am going tae start telling you things. Though I expect you’ll already know most of it, sharp as ye are. But no more sadness in your eyes.”
He flicked suds at her, splattering the front of her T-shirt, startling a gasp out of her. Retaliating set off a splash war. The damn man refused to stop until she was giggling and splashing him more boisterously.
He snatched up the sprayer and aimed it at her, but before she could squeal and fend him off, he stopped abruptly, as did she, Evan’s voice commanding their attention.
Come to me. Quickly. Come from the northwest.
His urgency wasn’t tension, but excitement. Even so, they left the kitchen without hesitation, headed out across the grass. Niall seized her hand so they could run together across the compound. They were moving away from the lake, toward the forest where it headed deeper into the surrounding hills.
When you pass the perimeter marker, come as silently as you can. Stop at the crest of the hill, where the trees open up, so you can see it.
They exchanged a glance, but kept moving together swiftly. As they drew closer, Niall slowed them down, cutting down on their noise. When they at last topped the hill, Alanna drew in a breath. The rising moon appeared huge and yellow, dominating the sky. But what made it even more remarkable was what Evan had intended them to see. On the hill directly across from them was a family of bears. The mother bear was sitting in that peculiar humanlike way, her legs out before her. One cub leaned against her, the other exploring the grass, occasionally standing on his hind legs like a human toddler. Less than ten yards away was a doe and her fawn, the mother browsing the grass as the baby took tentative steps toward the cub, and he toward the baby.
They’d arrived downwind, explaining why Evan had told them to come from that direction. Putting his fingers to his lips, Niall lifted Alanna, then moved like the silent hunter he was, like the wind itself, until he’d reached Evan. The vampire was sitting so still amid a spray of bushes, she almost missed him. They sank down next to him, Alanna in between. Evan was studying the scene with that intensity that suggested he wasn’t even aware of their approach, except that he’d called to them.